The Bloody Mary
The mural above adorns the King Cole Room at the St. Regis Hotel (bonus points if you know why King Cole is smiling in Maxfield Parrish’s rendition here*). This regal lounge is also the birthplace of a hangover staple. The Bloody Mary was born here in 1934, taking an existing tomato and vodka tipple and tricking it out with the pepper, lemon, and Worcestershire sauce we know today. In the heyday, the St. Regis was mixing 100 to 150 Bloody Marys every day. Where would brunch be without it?
*King Cole's face is thought to have been modeled after John Jacob Astor who originally commissioned the mural for his Knickerbocker hotel bar down the street from where the St. Regis is now. As the tale of the wry smile goes, there was an unwritten competition among illustrators of the day to see who could sneak the act of flatulence into one of their public works. Supposedly Parrish won this contest with King Cole. Not only is the king smiling a secret smile but the reactions of his flanking knights give the secret and King Cole away. (Source: queernewyorkblog.blogspot.com)
The Teddy Bear
Photo by Smithsonian Museum of Natural History
The stuffed animal here is thought to have been made by Morris Michtom in the early 1900s. Michtom, a Russian-Jewish immigrant, had a candy shop he ran with his wife at 404 Tompkins Avenue in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. Inspired by a political cartoon that noted President Theodore Roosevelt’s compassion for a wounded bear, Michtom created a plush version that he placed in the shop window with the tag “Teddy’s bear.” Michtom asked for and received Roosevelt’s okay to use the name and sales took off, so much so that the candy shop closed and the Michtoms created the Ideal Novelty and Toy Company. The company went on to become one of the biggest toy companies in the world, bringing us Mouse Trap, the Rubik’s Cube, and the Magic 8-Ball, among many others.
Salsa
Photo by William P. Gottlieb, Public Domain
The name of this music genre sounds Latin, and its rhythms are clearly inspired by the islands. But Salsa was invented in New York City. Evolving from the overlap of national origins that only happens in NYC, and taking inspirations from the city’s jazz heritage, Salsa came up from the Big Apple before being exported all around the region.
Source: “Made In NYC,” by Ethan Wolff, March 2024, City Guide New York
Contributed by Bobbie Roggemann